Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
February 1, x792.
"Stay still, Marin." Elicia said in an exasperated tone. "You can do all the kicks you want when I'm done."
"Sorry... Sorry... But I just can't help it." Marin said while trying, and failing, to not move around while Elicia was working. "This is just so awesome. There are so many more characters to become than I knew. This is really awesome!"
"I still can't understand why you would want to be someone else." Cana said before taking a swig from the bottle of vodka in her hand. "I mean, isn't being you good enough?"
"Cana's right?" Sun added with a smile. "I think you're great the way you are, ya see?"
"Aww! I love you, too, Sun!" Marin squealed cheerfully as she tried to lunge at Sun to give her a hug.
"Stay. Still." Elicia barked sternly while wrapping her threads around Marin to keep her in place. "Or are you trying to ruin my work before I'm done?"
Marin could only smile sheepishly as she did her best to not let her excitement get the better of her. Meanwhile, the others in the living room, Cana, Levy, Lisanna, Chico, Sun, Juvia, and Saya, were seated on the couches chatting, laughing, and in Cana's case, drinking.
"Anyway, instead of letting Gray protect your honor, you went and beat up all the cultists yourself?" Saya asked with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
"Yes." Juvia replied with a strong nod. "Gray was so romantic when he proposed to Juvia. And for someone to ruin that moment, Juvia just could not stand for it."
"Yeah, I get it..." Lisanna said while smiling wryly. "But did you ever consider Gray's pride? I mean, I'm sure he wanted to protect you just as much as you wanted to protect him, right?"
Immediately, Juvia's entire body locked up while her eyes flew wide open. A moment later, a panicked expression showed up on her face.
"Oh no!" Juvia exclaimed in a panic as she shot up to her feet. "Juvia didn't think about that. Juvia needs to go apologize to her beloved Gray right now!"
"She's twenty-five and still speaking in third person." Cana muttered. "That's not normal, is it?"
"Stop right there." Saya said sharply. "Are you trying to crush his pride even worse than before?"
"Wha-What do you mean?" Juvia asked as she froze mid-stride.
"*Sigh* Do any of the wizards in this guild use their brains?" Saya asked while adjusting her glasses.
"Why ask questions you already know the answer to?" Elicia asked with a giggle.
"You know you were included in that question, right, Lici?" Cana pointed out with her bottle of vodka pointed at Elicia.
"Yes, I'm aware." Elicia replied calmly. "I've known I speak without thinking for a long time. But now that I've been made so painfully aware that I tend to raise flags, too, I can't really deny it, either."
"Fair enough." Cana replied with a shrug.
"Anyway, have you decided when the wedding will be, Juvia?" Saya asked to take Juvia's mind off apologizing to Gray.
"Not yet." Juvia replied while shaking her head. "We haven't had much time to talk about it yet. But Juvia thinks it should be the biggest, most extravagant wedding of all time to show the world just how great Juvia's and Gray's love is!"
As she spoke, Juvia slowly spun in place with her arms spread wide and a dreamy expression on her face. Meanwhile, the other ladies could only look at her with wry and tired smiles.
"Alright, all done." Elicia said as she finally finished adjusting Marin's cosplay. "You can go wild. It should be strong enough to handle most magical battles. So, unless you're acting like the rest of our guild, it should never get damaged."
Hearing that, Marin's eyes lit up. Then, she jumped away from Elicia. While she was airborne, her hair and eyes changed color to match Chun Li's. On top of that, her thighs thickened with muscle to match Chun Li's legendarily thick thighs.
Then, when she landed, Marin struck Chun Li's fighting pose before throwing a few punches and kicks. She then transitioned into the [Lightning Kick] before performing a back handspring. However, instead of pushing back to her feet, she pushed herself straight up, spread her legs into a split, and started spinning at high-speed, performing the [Spinning Bird Kick].
*Applause!*
Seeing that, the ladies in the room clapped and cheered at the display.
"Those look like moves Lici would do." Lisanna said with a smile. "You should add those into your fighting style, Lici."
"I use some moves like those." Elicia replied. "Just a whole lot faster. You can't really call that a [Lightning Kick] when Marin's so slow."
"Well excuse me for not being as fast as you." Marin said while brushing a few stray hairs out of her face after flipping back onto her feet. "But I'd love to see you fight me with weapons. Then, I'll show you what fast really looks like."
"Do these count?" Elicia asked with the most innocent expression she could make while holding her hands up and letting her threads out of her fingertips.
"If you two are gonna fight, take it to the training room." Cana said while hugging her bottle of vodka like the most precious treasure. "Because if either of you make me spill my booze, we're gonna have a real problem."
In response, all the ladies rolled their eyes at Cana. Then, they all sat down and continued chatting as if nothing happened.
"So, any kids in the future, Saya?" Elicia asked curiously.
"*Sigh* I hope so." Saya replied. "Gods know we've been trying."
"Kids... A child between Juvia and Gray... Ah~~~~!" Juvia muttered in a dreamy tone.
"Yeah, that might not have been the best subject change." Levy said while scooting away from Juvia.
"I only asked because I want another one." Elicia said with a smile. "Plus, there's a chance that Grayfia will have one. She's definitely been trying hard enough."
Hearing that, the ladies who did not live in the mansion all leaned forward to hear the gossip.
"Hasn't she?" Marin asked with a wide smile. "It's really funny to see her leave a room while adjusting her uniform."
"It's not just her." Cana added. "If you wait around long enough, you can see Fonzie leaving the same room while buckling his belt with a satisfied smile on his face."
"Oh my." Lisanna said while covering her mouth with her eyes wide open.
"Do they just go at it whenever?" Saya asked curiously, the desire for gossip sparkling in her eyes.
"Pretty much." Sun added with a nod. "Ever since Alfonzo told her that he wanted to have a child with her, they do it almost every day as long as Alfonzo is in the mansion."
"Juvia would love to do it every day with her beloved Gray." Juvia said in that same dreamy tone. A moment later, however, she lowered her head as she continued. "*Sigh* But if we do it too many days in a row, Gray starts complaining about backaches."
"Same with Laxus." Saya said wistfully. "Then again, he's gotta satisfy both Chico and I. So, it kinda makes sense."
"We don't have to worry about that." Cana said while grinning cheekily. "You know those electric rabbits that will just keep running if they're scared?"
"You mean the pink ones with drums on their tummies?" Lisanna asked, curious to know what Cana was getting at.
"Yeah, those." Cana replied while nodding emphatically. "Lici calls them Energizer Bunnies. Anyway, Fonzie's just like those things. He just keeps going, and going, and going, and going..."
"He hits that drum right, too." Elicia said with a lewd smile. "No matter how many of us team up against him, we always end up passing out first."
"Lici tends to last the longest, though." Marin pointed out. "Then again, she is in the best shape out of all of us, too."
"Sun's a close second, though." Elicia pointed out.
"The fact that you can outlast a mermaid says a lot about you, Lici." Saya said with a huff.
"What can I say?" Lici asked proudly. "I'm just built different."
Hearing that, the other ladies rolled their eyes.
"Well, Natsu never complains about doing it too much, either." Lisanna said shyly.
"That's because Natsu doesn't have an off switch." Cana said while rolling her eyes. "Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't stop even when you said you couldn't continue."
"That only happened once." Lisanna said sheepishly. "But after I told Big Sis and she had a talk with him about it, it never happened again."
"Mira in She-Devil mode is scary." Levy muttered.
Cana, Sun, Marin, and Juvia nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Saya looked at everyone skeptically. Then, when she saw that Elicia was not nodding along with everyone else, she turned to her with a curious gaze.
"Why don't you look scared like everyone else?" Saya asked.
"Because I've never been weaker than Mira." Elicia replied with a shrug. "So, none of her intimidation tactics have ever worked on me."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Saya replied with a nod of understanding.
"Are you sure about that, Lici?"
Hearing that voice, everyone turned to the entrance of the living room. When they did, they saw Mirajane, Shizuka, and Rika entering the room with Grayfia and Miyuki following at a respectful distance.
"Oh, you're back." Elicia said with a smile. "How are things at the guild hall?"
"Same as always." Rika said with a shrug. "You know how it is, lots of noise and fights."
"Sounds like business as usual." Cana replied with a nod.
"Don't try to change the subject, Lici." Mirajane said with a competitive glint in her eyes. "We haven't fought for real in a long time. So, how do you know you're not weaker than me anymore?"
Hearing that, all the ladies in the room looked at Elicia and Mirajane with anticipation. Because other than when the Dragon Slayers challenge Alfonzo, it's very rare to see two S-Class wizards fight.
Meanwhile, Elicia did her best impersonation of Alfonzo while looking directly into Mirajane's eyes.
"If you wanna catch a butt whoopin' so bad, I can grant your wish." Elicia said in a provocative manner. "But you know, there's a reason why I'm recognized as the second strongest woman in Fairy Tail, right?"
"That would sound a lot more impressive if you didn't say you were only second best." Cana said playfully.
Yet, Elicia did not even seem bothered by Cana's jab.
"Irene is a monster." Elicia said matter-of-factly. "I know I can't beat her yet. Shoot... Not even Fonzie is sure he can beat her."
"*Sigh* I remember when you and Alfonzo were almost even in power." Sun said. "Why did that change?"
"Because Fonzie uses the Techno Organic Metal to strengthen his body." Elicia explained. "And with a stronger body, he can hold more magic power than I can now."
With the mention of the Techno Organic Metal, everyone in the room, including Elicia, shuddered in horror. When Alfonzo brought it back, he told them how it could make them stronger. However, he added a caveat that it would cause no small amount of pain. Yet, like the Fairy Tail idiots they were, they all jumped at the opportunity to get stronger.
Needless to say, they all got physically stronger after using it. However, not one of them could handle more than three sessions with the metal before giving up on it entirely. And that included the maids, who wanted to use it to protect the house better as part of their duties.
"Yeah... Let's not talk about that demon metal anymore." Marin said while rubbing her arms. "My whole body hurts from just remembering that god-awful pain."
"Anyway, do you really wanna do this, Mira?" Elicia asked with a challenging smile.
Mira's smile only widened when she heard that.
"I see." Elicia replied as her smile widened, as well. "Fine then, we can do it tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me." Mirajane replied
A moment later, the charged atmosphere disappeared as if it never existed. Then, Mirajane, Shizuka, and Rika all took seats on the couches and joined the girl talk while Grayfia and Miyuki served refreshments to everyone.